Intruder in the Palace
by crankymindset
Summary: The Crank Palace is for Cranks, not for someone like me. Someone who's immune to the Flare. -Victoria Paige
1. Chapter 1: The Intruder

I should have ran with them, _escaped with them. _Being trapped here in this place is not right. I shouldn't have signed up for this. Heck, I never even signed up for this!

When a group of teenagers about my age burst into this place, all I thought about was how stupid they were for coming in here. No matter what their purpose is, no matter how noble it would sound, it would still be useless. No one, _no one _ever goes in and out of this place if you're not immune to the Flare.

Then, I heard arguing. Screams, cries, pleads. I could almost feel their pain while they exchanged words. That was when I knew that they were here to rescue their friends.

But, then again, it was futile. It was already a common scenario here at the Crank Palace. No one ever bothers to comfort another crank who wept at one corner after they pushed someone away. No one ever does because they know, even if they do, it's already the finish line.

This is why I hate this place. It's already prison for us, the lack of affection doesn't even help at all. At least, in the Glade you have someone to lean on to, someone you can trust. I should have just went there instead. I should just have.

"Those teenagers are a bunch of idiots," a Crank slurred.

The others nodded their heads in agreement. Every Crank in this room has the minimal signs of having the Flare rooted in their brains. They still look normal but they know that one day, the Flare would creep up to their bodies.

After that statement, everybody tries to find something to do that'll keep them entertained until they finally lost their mind.

* * *

><p>One of WICKED's representative would come here every other day. I don't know why they would come here. I really thought they don't really care about the Cranks. After all, they're just a burden to the world.<p>

"Is there a change of activities?" the representative asked the guard.

"It's still the same, sir," the guard replied.

I watched and listened to their exchange. It was still the same, there's no useful information to gather. All they ever talk about is the activities of the Cranks over the last month and how it keeps on getting worse.

"This is a bother. The Cure is almost impossible to make now that Thomas has fled,"

Thomas? Isn't that the guy whom the blonde argued with? I can't believe WICKED had a slip up.

"You have to finish the Cure, sir or else humankind will vanish,"

"I know. I just hope everything's going to go according to plan,"

* * *

><p><strong>The Cranks are going to attack tomorrow.<strong>

That was the first message I sent to Chancellor Paige when I found a computer I could access. Having the Cranks attack...

No. I have to believe on Chancellor Paige now. I can't do anything but just observe these Cranks. My limit is here.

Once I've made sure that the history of sending the message is erased, I snuck out of the room. It was dark in there. It was the darkest room in the whole place. Maybe it's because no one would bother to put up a light there because Cranks can't use computers.

"What the bloody hell were you doing?" someone said from behind me. I almost jumped but then I realized it wasn't something a Crank won't do.

"Me? Are you talking to me?" I managed to slur. I faced the blonde guy from before and noticed how skinny he was. The Flare must have made him that way.

"Yes, you. You don't look like you're a bloody Crank," he observed. He wasn't slurring. He talked normally. Looks like the virus isn't taking its toll fully yet.

"Me? I'm a Crank. I'm a Crank ever since," then I trailed off and pretended to think. "Ah, brain won't work well anymore,"

Then, the blonde boy just stared at me and limped away, allowing me to breathe out a sigh of relief.


	2. Chapter 2: Escape

_Tomorrow. _I hate it most when time goes by so fast in just a blink of an eye. Most people would love it but I'm not most people. Another day means another death and I can never tell whose it going to be today.

"What are you so upset about, Crank?" the blonde guy said beside me.

I must have been spacing out for a while for him to notice that. I gave him a crooked smile similar to a Crank's.

"I'm not upset about anything at all," I said. "I'm so excited for the attack,"

Slow, absent-minded and annoying-that's how a Crank would talk. I hate talking like this it makes me feel like I actually belong to this place. It makes me feel like a Crank.

"You were just spacing out, you bloody Crank. That's not excited at all,"

"Crank? Bloody Crank? Who's that?" I whispered just enough for him to hear it. Then, I stood up while murmuring to myself that I'm a Crank leaving blondie there, annoyed on how I couldn't make sense.

* * *

><p>I was the last one to escape the Palace. I was the most hesitant to leave that place. I was the most scared of the consequences.<p>

"Look, there's one Crank left. Get her," a guard said when he saw me.

My eyes went wide and I felt the familiar adrenaline when I first entered this place. The guards are nearing me and I can't find any escape.

"Run back!" a voice said behind me. The voice had an accent I was beginning to be familiar with.

"C'mon, shank! Hurry and run back!"

Hesitating, I did what he told me. This is isn't part the plan. I was supposed to be a good girl and let them take me to another Crank Palace. So, why am I running away from the guards?

I looked ahead of me as I wondered how this limping boy made me run back. Maybe it was the alert in his voice, maybe it was the authority or maybe it was the worry that slipped in his voice. I must have missed affection this much. After all, it has been a decade.

"I thought you were with the others," I heaved. I didn't care if I didn't slur. I don't care anymore.

"I'm supposed to be. You're not a Crank, are you?" he asked.

"You're pretty observant, blondie. Doesn't the Flare block your intelligence?"

"I don't know. Maybe it will, some time. But first, let's get you out of here, ya?"

"That's a bad idea. We can't get out of here you Crank. The only way out is the only way in,"

"I'm supposed to be the Crank here, Munie. Why do I know the other ways out?"

* * *

><p>"How long are we going to roam around this place, Crank?" I complained. My legs are about to give up and I don't know how much longer I can keep up.<p>

"Until we find that exit!"

"Find the exit?! I thought you know where it is!"

"I do. It's not my fault it got mysteriously lost, alright?!"

"Great. So we're just going around in circles without any clue where this mysterious exit is,"

"Will you just shut your bloody mouth, Munie? I don't see you helping at all,"

"That's it! I can't believe I actually believed that there's an exit, I'm going back to the entrance," I said, irritated and was prepared to run back to the entrance where the guards are waiting when I heard a bump.

"Bloody. When did this wall get here?" I heard him ask himself, confused.

Ignoring his tone, I continued going for the entrance. I have no time for his Cranky games. I should just go to the other Crank Palace and continue my assigned duty there.

"Munie, what kind of Palace is this? This feels like the Maze," he commented from behind me.

"You're just not use to it, that's why," I replied.

"I hate this place,"

"If you hate it so much, why didn't go out with your friends then? They seemed to be willing to have a Crank to burden them,"

And instead of a reply, he grabbed me and dragged me to a nearby room rather harshly.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, Crank?" I snapped.

"Will shut that mouth of yours? There are guards there," he replied.

Glaring, I yanked my arm out of his grasp but followed his order. I hate it though. I hate following what he says. I hate it when he makes me feel like I'm lower than a Crank.

"Looks like they're searching the area diligently. Listen Munie, if you want to get out of this place then follow my lead, got that?"

"Excuse me? _You're _the _Crank _here. _I'm _the _Munie,"_

"That doesn't support the fact that you did nothing at all to help us escape," he said it so harshly that I know if we weren't hiding from the guards, he would have shouted at me.

I know better than to reply to him. If I do, it might just led to an argument and when there's an argument, there's shouting at each other and when there's shouting. Well, it's dead end for us.

"Do you actually want to escape?" I asked him after a few minutes of silence passed. He looked at me then avoided my gaze. He looked distant, he looked so far away even if he's just a few feet away from me.

"I've spent my whole life trying to escape that I think it's becoming a habit. I feel like there's nothing I could do anymore but that,"

"Even if you're in paradise?"

"Even if," he whispered then I saw hurt flashed in his eyes as if for a mere second, he was imagining him in paradise. And maybe he did.


	3. Chapter 3: Alone

Two hours. It has been two hours and I may have slept for a few minutes in that two hours and we're still here trapped in the room because Blondie refuses to escape.

"It's been two hours," I hissed

"They might be out there," he said sternly.

"What are so afraid off?! We heard their footsteps pass by five times now!"

"Wait until we hear it ten times!"

"What's wrong with you?!"

"Nothing maybe except for the fact that I have the Flare rooted in my brain,"

"Listen, blondie, you talk so highly about escaping yet you're being a coward about it,"

"Shut up, will you? If you're that eager to escape, escape alone,"

"Fine. I will but just so you know, your words are nothing but a piece of klunk,"

* * *

><p>Turn here, turn there. Look here and look there. Unlike before, I have to be careful with my actions. Blondie's not here to be a hero and they can't know that there had always been an intruder in the palace.<p>

Nervous and sweating, I'm miserably failing to navigate my out of the palace. It feels like it's another place, as if the walls rearranged themselves.

I took three steps forward and stopped when I heard footsteps echoing.

"I wonder where those Cranks went," one said.

"I don't know. We've searched the whole area and we can't seem to find them," another replied.

"Shut up, idiots. They might hear us and run to another hiding place," a stern voice said.

"James, our footsteps had been giving us away for hours now,"

"Shut up," James said.

Slowly, I turned right and just then, I heard a scream but it was too late to turn around because the wall behind me closed and there was an opening to the outside world.

* * *

><p>Once I stepped outside, I suddenly thought that the world inside the palace was better. All around me was chaos. Cranks are attacking and people are afraid. Inside the place… no, my life inside there is done. This is where <em>I <em>belong. This is the world _I'm supposed to be living _for 3 years instead of that place.

"Are you lost, missy?" a Crank asked. Dazed, I nodded at him and followed to wherever he was heading. After all, I can't fight the Cranks like this. I have no weapon and I'm sure that I can't fight them off with just my body.

Crank suddenly stopped. I was about to ask why when I saw some of WICKED's guards heading for our direction. I muttered a cuss before running away; not caring if my whole Crank façade would fall apart. I can't risk them knowing.

"Hold up, you Crank! We're just going to take you to a really comfy place where you could do whatever you Cranks do," a guard said, huffing because he too was running.

"You idiot! She's not going to come willingly!" one of the guards scolded him. I rolled my eyes as I remembered how the other guards argued a while ago. Seriously, does their training make them have the same mindset?

Ignoring their bicker, I turned right and manage to lose them. However, I'm almost out of stamina and I haven't even entered the WICKED premises.

"You're out of breath," a deep voice commented from behind me. My body tensed and when the owner of the voice touched my waist, I was preparing to elbow him in the ribs when he suddenly whispered,

"It's me, Vic. It's me,"


End file.
